ASIA/SYRIA - Archbishop Hindo: does not want a "Kurdish State" in the Syrian province of Jazira

Hassaké (Agenzia Fides ) - "The only ones who want to create a Kurdish autonomous region in northern Syria are the militants of the PKK, the Abdullah Ocalan party. But the project does not even receive acclaim from other Kurds. Even less by Muslim tribes and us Christians". This is how the Syrian Catholic Archbishop Behnam Hindo describes to Fides Agency the reactions among the local population with regards to the rumors about the possible creation of an autonomous area in northeastern Syria, in fact subtracted by the control of the central government in Damascus.
Recently, the Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD, Syrian expression of the Karkerên Kurdistan Party (PKK ) has declared ''the intention of creating a Kurdish autonomous region in the Syrian province of Jazira. "During the committee meetings which bring together the heads of different ethnic and religious communities", explains Archbishop Hindo, titular of the eparchy of Hassaké - Nisibi "we have already rejected the proposal to create a constituent Assembly and a popular Assembly that proclaimed the autonomy of the region. Not even the majority of the Kurds want to create an autonomous political entity where the leadership is exercised by the dominant ethnic or religious group. At most one can propose a confederation of local communities that will set new relations with the central government in Damascus. Historically, the resources produced in the province of Jazira have always been looted by the state administration. This will no longer happen". Archbishop Hindo frames the autonomist tendencies inspired by the PKK in the context of the ongoing conflict: "In this area of Syria, the PKK Kurdish militias are holding a clash with Islamist groups affiliated with Al- Qaeda". (GV) (Agenzia Fides 11/10/2013)